Hilton Head to Beaufort NC

Our departure from Hilton Head Monday was forecasting moderate winds, but from the South so behind us, and we had a good travel day.  

We needed to break up the leg to Charleston and previously we had stopped at Beaufort SC ( Bew-fert), but this time we wanted to get a little further. We picked a small marina on Dataw Island, about 15 miles beyond Beaufort, which made for about a 50 mile run for the day, arriving before 2. The marina had recently reopened after a rebuild from a hurricane a few years ago. It was about 4 miles off the ICW and a bit more exposed than expected, but they had a great crew to help with lines and securing the boat in the wind that had come up.

What a find it turned out to be.  Dataw is a private golf community island and a beautiful residential community.  Since we had a good portion of the afternoon still we got out on our bikes. It was very good to get off the boat again and get some exercise, which I forgot to mention in our last blog how much we enjoyed that in Hilton Head.  

We did the approx 5 mile circle tour of the island and in the process came across the ruins of the Sam’s family plantation estate, built in 1780 and abandoned in 1861 during the civil war. 

One of the unique aspects of the ruins is that the concrete is called “tabby”, which used oyster shells to substitute for the lack of gravel, which is generally unavailable locally in the South apparently.  Lots of sand, lime and water, but no gravel.  The ruins are well preserved and there is a history and learning centre adjacent to inform more.  So great when a stop like this provides such an interesting surprise. 

The wind died overnight and we got away in very light conditions for the run to Charleston.  This was also about a 50 mile day, and with favourable tidal currents we arrived at 130, but again in a bit windy conditions just to make docking more of a challenge.  We have spent a number of days in Charleston in the past and it is a wonderful city to visit, but we were only over-nighting this time.  Our early arrival did allow us to utilize the marina shuttle to visit the Publix grocery store for a stock up.  

The wind eased over night and we got away in S10 knots, but it did build to 15 to 20 over the day.  This portion of the ICW is very narrow channels though so there is no expanse of fetch to allow much more than a light chop to develop, except for the last 5 miles into Georgetown.  We had a very advantageous day with the tidal currents, which is quite unusual here.  Typically boat speed will benefit for a while and then crossing a river entrance will result in going against the current.  This day we seemed to benefit from an ebb that was behind us 80% of the time, and we were at the right spot when it turned to flood.  

We arrived about 2 and it seemed to coincide with the peak of the afternoon wind, with white streaks being blow across the water.  After turning to bring the boat in upwind into the face dock, and with a good dockhand to assist, we got the boat secured.  Judy immediately set off for the Independent seafood shop to get fresh shrimp for dinner, before the rain set in.  Turned out to not be not much of a rain so we later set off for a short walk around this beautiful late 1800’s town. 

Rain set in later in the evening and we had a ferocious thunderstorm thru the night.  By dawn the rain had stopped and the wind had eased a bit so that getting away from the dock was relatively easy.  We did discover that we had a crab trap buoy caught up in one of the stabilizer fins, so we reversed until it cleared.  Not sure how long we had dragged that for.  

Some days we benefit from the tide and other days it seems to be constantly against you.  This was one of those days.  Leaving Georgetown we headed North up the Waccamaw river, into a strong ebb and didn't do much better than 6.5 knots for hours.  Furthermore, the further north up the river, the later the tide turned, and the longer we stayed at slow speed.  And the rain set in again mid morning and lasted all day so definitely steered from inside all day.  It is a very dry, warm and comfortable boat though. 

In past visits to this area and the museums, we had learned about the importance of rice crops to agriculture here historically, and how the land was flooded to cultivate rice.  About mid day we passed an historic rice plantation at Waverly Mills, and the decaying wooden dikes and sluice gates were very evident along the shore.  Can’t imagine the work involved in the heat to build those wooden dikes and other infrastructure in the early 1800’s, all with slave labour of course.  

Another 50 mile run day got us into N Myrtle Beach about 230 to a marina we have been at a number of times.  Two dockhands met us to get the boat secured, and we were all set on doing it as quickly as possible given the steady rain.  We retired to the dry and warmth of the boat subsequently and the wet clothes were tossed in the dryer.  Ahh, the luxury of having your own laundry aboard!

It rained thru the night but dried up before 6am. We shouldn’t complain about it though as that is the first >24 hour period of rain we have had in all the time we have had the boat.  And that was one purpose of this adventure, to get away from the winter rains of the West Coast.  

We departed Myrtle Beach in a bit of west wind and it continued to build thru the day.  The clouds blew away mid morning and sunshine prevailed, although it was cool.   The key objective was to get up and across the Cape Fear River before the winds built to the small craft advisory level in the afternoon.   We had some contingency plans for a stop in Southport but that wasn’t necessary.  The travel was largely in very protected waters.  We continued on to Carolina Beach and arrived about 130, for a 45 mile day run.  We took advantage of the nearby Publix to stock up on fresh fruit and veggies and a couple of other essentials, and then headed out to walk the boardwalk along the ocean.  Not a good day to be offshore, with 5’ waves rolling onto the beach.  

Carolina Beach really has this transient boater thing figured out.  They have a good  small marina at the head of the inlet, with good docks, power and water, and close to the towns services.  Great incentive for a boater to stop and spend some money.  And they provide it at a very reasonable price.  Nearby on the docks was a charter fishing boat that came in with bonita, which at that size he was cutting into strips for bait for larger fish. 

We departed at sunrise for the 60 mile run to Swansboro in calm, but very cool conditions, and again with a forecast of wind to build during the day.  We transited 3 bridges that needed to open, and we were able to time them reasonably well.   We had to run a bit hard for the second bridge only 4 miles past the first bridge, which was a bit late opening, which didn’t help.  The wind did build, and with our arrival peaked at 25 knots, making docking challenging but with 2 good dockhands, and Judy, non incidental.  

Since it was Saturday, we treated ourselves to a night out at a local bar to hear a musician duo.  Played Carolina style country music of course.  Was a fun, but still early evening.  We departed the next morning at dawn to get ahead of the strong wind forecast to build over the day, with the cold front that moved in overnight.  43F in the morning and a high of only 63 for the day.  

The run to Beaufort (Bow-Fort) NC was only 25 miles and we were in by 1030.  Very happy to be as the wind did build to 20 to 30 thru the afternoon. We are spending two nights here, to visit with friends who live nearby, and to wait for the winds to decrease. 

Our weeks run was 325 miles, with an extra day of travel this week compared to last weeks 350 miles, reflecting the shorter days we put in.  I finally figured out that an entire weeks track can be strung together on Navionics, and the track is shown on the chart, although in yellow so very similar to the land colour and hard to make out.  

From here we have about 175 miles to get to Atlantic Yacht Basin, in Chesapeake VA, where the boat is stored for the summer.  But this final week has some relatively large and exposed bodies of water to get across, and the wind is not our friend for the first few days of the week, so we will have to be careful in choosing travel days and destinations.